Farm to table (as in, your own)
Police looking for help in cold case.
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In this edition:
Top: Police looking for help in cold case
Bottom: Fresh from the farm in Saratoga Springs
Announcement
Police asking for cold case assistance
The New York State Police are continuing their search for Stephen J. Houghton and are seeking assistance from the public. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is now involved in this investigation, and a reward of $25,000 has been offered for information leading to his whereabouts, the police said in a press release Tuesday Sept. 16.
On August 18, 2023, Troopers responded to the Villa Motel located on State Route 9 in the town of Ausable regarding a missing person report. Family members informed the State Police that Stephen J. Houghton, from Keeseville, NY, has not been heard from or seen since February 2022.
“Apparently there was a reward put for it now,” the state police office in Ray Brook New York said. With the involvement of the federal authorities came the reward, but police had no further information about why a case is getting more attention now.
The last known sighting of Houghton was at Stewart's gas station in Port Henry, NY, on February 20, 2022. At the time he went missing, he was 35 years old. He is a white male, approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing about 225 pounds, with black hair and blue eyes, the press release says.
Multiple law enforcement agencies have been contacted regarding Houghton's disappearance. Family and friends are cooperating with law enforcement to provide any information that may help locate him. The State Police continue their investigation, and with the involvement of the ATF, they hope to gather more information about Houghton’s whereabouts.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Stephen J. Houghton is asked to please contact the New York State Police in 518-897-2000.
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Quick guide to Saratoga Springs CSA Farms
CSAs always offer the freshest food, but their approach can be quite different. Let's get into it.
By Melanie E. Snyder, special to the Dispatch
[For a shareable link to just this story, click here.]
Community Supported Agriculture has taken off in Saratoga Springs and surrounding areas, with a Top 3 emerging based on flexibility, variety of food and sustainable practices. Regardless of which CSA you choose, one thing remains the same: You’re supporting a local farm, fostering biodiversity, and getting the freshest food possible.
New to CSAs? Then you’re in for a treat. The practice starts with local farms offering memberships or subscriptions to consumers in exchange for food. Most CSAs in the Capital Region run through the end of October, but some are year-round. Memberships have all sorts of different models, but all involve filling your kitchen and pantry with seasonal fruit and vegetables, and sometimes eggs and/or meat, most often on a weekly basis.
Pitney Meadows: The most well-known farm in Saratoga is close to town and has a long, storied history. It’s also a sprawling piece of property — its hard-to-miss 166 acres sit right on West Avenue.
Pitney’s CSA has some interesting features that set it apart from others. Namely, the farm uses the “pick your own share” model, which allows members to design their own weekly share based on what they like to harvest and eat the most, rather than the shares being chosen for you.
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This pick-your-own experience means there’s a bit of labor required of CSA members. Food won’t be delivered to your doorstep or ready for pick-up like with some other CSAs — you have to actually get in the weeds. But if you prefer a hands-on approach, want to be involved in the planting and harvesting of your own food, and want to see exactly where it’s coming from, Pitney is the place to go. (Enough of you very much want these things; there’s currently a waitlist to get in.)
You don’t need any experience, so don’t be intimidated. Plus, the Pitney CSA is also SNAP-friendly. You can use your SNAP benefits towards the membership, or at the farm stand on the property, which is open year-round.
Add yourself to Pitney’s CSA waitlist here.
Tao Farms: Tao Farms NY, located off of Route 29 on Jockey Street, is owned and operated by Kyle Haynes. With a highly environmentally conscious approach, Haynes began running the CSA three years ago, implementing a number of regenerative farming practices from the onset.
Soil health is the lynchpin of the Tao Farms approach, which is why no-till farming is one of Haynes’ preferred methods. (The more standard process of tilling involves turning over — and thus damaging — nutrient-dense topsoil.) Instead, At Tao Farms, crops are largely left to decompose to prevent erosion and promote biodiversity.
“Kyle is extremely passionate about soil health, in part because of his formal education in plant science and in part because of his passion for history,” Haynes' wife, Martel Haynes Catalano, says. “The way we used to farm may have been more labor intensive, but it meant nutrient-rich food and a real connection to the earth. A lot of that has been replaced by mechanization and prioritizing quantity over quality.” Haynes’ farmers prefer hand tools to heavy machinery, organic (often home-made) fertilizers, and soil blocking rather than plastic cell trays.
Another unique service Tao Farms NY offers is the option for CSA members to have their box delivered each week. Potatoes, zucchini, beets, broccoli, peppers and dozens of other items can be delivered to your front door, either in half or full shares, depending on the number of people in your household.
The Tao Farms NY CSA runs through summer into fall, and you can sign up now for the 2026 season.
Featherbed Lane Farms: Similar to Tao Farms, Featherbed Lane Farms’ 63 acre-property (off Route 67) is a smaller operation compared to something like Pitney Meadows. The farm is also highly conscious about soil health, using things like cover crops, manure and compost to promote the field’s long-term health.
There is a wealth of information about how the farm operates on its website. One of the more notable features of Featherbed’s farming is its use of draft horses to plant crops, which causes less soil compaction than tractors, and its putting manure to good use on the farm.
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The CSA at Featherbed Lane is a “free choice” CSA. Similar to Pitney Meadows, this involves picking up your own shares, which aren’t pre-made for you by the farmers. It’s not a harvest-your-own-experience, but the options at the farm are ready to go for members to put together on their own based on what they like most, and members get to bring home as much as they want every week.
Another great benefit of becoming a member of the Featherbed Lane CSA is that it’s a year-round membership, with no dearth of options come winter. The farm provides an up-to-date menu on its website — eating seasonally is the point of CSA membership. In the coming months, you’d be looking at goodies such as winter squash, pumpkins and potatoes, as well as year-round produce such as cabbage, carrots and beets. There are also egg shares at Featherbed.
Submit a form to become a member now and check out all of the other benefits of being a member at the farm.
Keep reading about Saratoga’s food scene!
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